Bulldogs Finish Fencing at Penn State Open

Nov 23, 2009

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - On Saturday and Sunday, the Yale men's
fencing team took part in its first competitive tournament of the
year, the Penn State Open, in State College, Pa. In the individual
tournament, the Bulldogs performed well, with four of their six
foilists finishing in the top 16. Nathaniel Botwinick finished
fourth in foil, Colin Mills finished seventh in saber, and the team
as a whole defeated Harvard fencers over ten times over the course
of the tournament. Taylor Gregorie-Wright fenced very well and made
it into the top 16 before losing to two-time NCAA champion Andras
Horanyi.

“The foil team, lead by Nat’s fourth place finish,
had a great performance today," said captain Andrew Holbrook. "We
were all glad to see that we’ll be able to count on them this
coming season. The saber team had a solid result with Colin’s
top eight finish and Nate and Adam both making it to the final
round of pools. There were some disappointments on the day, but as
our first tournament of the season, it’s a great time for us
to take stock and reassess aspects of our fencing and training
programs. We’re all looking forward to making the most of our
time before the Brandeis Invitational.”

To put the Bulldogs' results in perspective, the only team to
have more than four foilists in the top 16 finishers at the
tournament was perennial fencing powerhouse, Notre Dame. Botwinick
reflected on his individual performance and that of the foil squad:

"I’m very happy with the foil squad’s result today,"
he said. "We proved that we’re among the best in the nation.
It was great to finally be able to compete again, I tore two
ligaments and cracked several bones in my foot over the summer
getting ready for National Championships, and this was my first
competition after not being able to properly train over the summer,
so I’m not too upset with my result.”

Sophomore Adam Fields of the saber squad commented on the
performances of the freshman saberists, for whom this was the first
competition at Yale.

"Although this was the first competition fencing at Yale for
three of our saber fencers, I was very impressed by their fencing,"
he said. "On the fencing strip, we were able to finish our attacks
and get our momentum going early in each bout. Off the fencing
strip, cheering for one another and giving each other advice for
our next bouts was crucial for advancing in each stage of the
tournament. With our strong finishes today and our hard work in the
next few weeks, I am confident that our saber squad will be ready
to help carry the fencing team in our first team competition coming
up at Brandeis in December.”